New Addition to Our Quality Department - Sharon Velemirovich
Semco has recently experienced significant growth in our graphite manufacturing business. As more companies are looking to us for their graphite fabrication needs, it became apparent that we needed to add personnel. Our Quality Department, in particular, needed to grow to help ensure that our graphite machining operations turn out components that meet our client’s specifications exactly. We spent over six months interviewing quality specialists. At this point, Semco is happy to announce that we have hired the right candidate for the position of Quality Technician: Sharon Velemirovich. Given Sharon’s vast experience, her addition to the Quality Department will allow us to continue the excellent work performed by Lee Dohanos (Quality Manager) while providing an opportunity for Lee to expand his role within the company as a Lean Manufacturing Engineer.
Sharon’s background suited her perfectly to her new position. Before coming to Semco, she worked for eleven years as a quality inspector at a large manufacturing company where she specialized in calibrating and metrology. Her vast experience includes playing the following roles in her previous position: performing inspections, collecting data and maintaining records, communicating critical information promptly to all necessary parties within the organization, and training new employees. She is a seasoned inspector who has worked with multiple engineers, lab techs, and third party calibration vendors. Her keen eye and meticulous inspections earned her great respect in the company, where she served as a trusted inspector and a mentor to her colleagues.
Being a quality inspector means being an expert measurer. In the highly precise field of graphite fabrication, a tape measure or ruler won’t cut it. Instead, tools such as highly sensitive coordinate-measuring machines (CMMs), which use lasers and other optical tools, are the preferred tools when performing precise measurements. In her previous job, Sharon did the same kinds of measuring she will be doing in her new role at Semco. She used calibrations to repair tools, and performed precise calibration of fixtures using a mobile CMM and a comparator. Sharon has also handled external calibrations, which she did via phone or email to 3rd party vendors. These calibrations involved Sharon filing all quotes and certs electronically and promptly seeking approval for cost and quick processing to meet the company’s needs. Her external calibrations also included gages and fixtures from sister companies. All these interactions necessary to performing external calibrations led Sharon to be an expert at customer service. She was also responsible for the approval of newly implemented gages and the immediate reporting to the engineering staff of any design flaws during calibration.
In addition to her extensive experience in calibration, Sharon has experience with assisting engineering teams with problem solving and data collection. This data included all necessary dimensional, product, material, and machinery information. Sha has also provided engineers with insight on measurement methodologies, designating critical inspections and their frequency to the operators of newly obtained product lines. An expert on surface plate measurements, Sharon was tasked with layouts for customers. In addition, she has experience with receiving, first piece, finished, and in-process checks (including insuring operators used gages properly and read all materials related to jobs).
Sharon’s level of gage knowledge lead her to oversee, train, and test all new hires for metrology on her shift. She instructed operators in proper caliper, micrometer, height gage, and decimal tape measure use. Essentially, Sharon was a crucial second set of eyes on the shop floor. This is a role that we at Semco are excited for her to play. With the addition of Sarah to our team, we can place even more confidence in our assurance to clients that trusting Semco with their graphite manufacturing needs is a great decision.